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Horseback ride on our pristine, untouched beaches!

As a new option at Tiskita, we are offering longer horseback riding adventures for those who love riding. Tiskita Jungle Lodge has over 800 acres of rainforest and three major horseback riding trails.

The Spanish introduced Arabic horses into Costa Rica as they were better adapted to wet tropical soils. Since then these Arabic hoses have been crossed with 1/4mile horses and Andaluzian horses out of South America. 1/4mile are strong horses, Arabic horses are sure-footed and Andaluzes are smooth stepping and walking horses, which means Costa Rican horses although smaller, by comparison, are well adapted to climbing mountains and hard farm labour.

The Rides

The shorter rides are about a 2.5hr to 3 hr ride. These rides can be shorter if you are an experienced rider. There are two rides that are full day rides. During all the rides a local guide will accompany you. We take up to 5 guests with a guide.

We have organized this option as a three-day package. However we have also included the option of a two-day or a four-day package. These offer more flexibility with arranging the rides the way you want them. With a four-day package there are more rides we can arrange which go further towards Panama and more into the Indigenous reserve.

Trip 1

Your first ride will be a 10 km trail, which starts at the beach below the lodge at Paulo’s house at 8:30 am right after breakfast. Depending on the tide you will either start right on the beach or on the road that follows the coast. Tiskita’s horseback trails rise quickly up through secondary forest with open areas offering breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean on one side and on the other side you can take in the tall trees of the primary rainforest. You continue on along the ridge and down through primary rainforest until you end up in the fruit orchard and loop down to the beach and Paulo’s house again just in time for lunch.

Trip 2

In the afternoon you can ride along the beach to Pavones, which is a famous surf spot with the third longest left wave. The ride is an easy ride in which for the most part you can ride on the beach or on the road next to it. The beach is mostly deserted and offers great sections for galloping or simply walking along and enjoying the ocean and palm trees. Once in Pavones we like to stop by the “Cantina” and get ice cream or a drink and sit on the cement wall overlooking the wave break. Here you can watch surfers ride this beautiful wave before you head back. You can also get to see the small town of Pavones with its unique mix of local Costa Rican and foreigners that have come to surf. There are a few Internet cafes and little restaurants as well as many options to rent surfboards, boogie boards and kayaks.

Trip 3

Trip three consists of a full day ride in which you will horseback through deserted beaches as well as primary rainforest. This ride will take you along the beach south towards Punta Burica, which marks the end of Costa Rica. You will ride along a pristine beach down past the town of Punta Banco and to a point called “La Estrechura” or Narrow point. Here you must get off your horses to cross this narrow rocky stretch where the cliffs drop down to the ocean. This part has to be crossed 2 hrs before or after the low tide. If the times don’t match up we will start the ride through the forest first and come back this way. Once you pass the narrow point you have entered the Guaymi Indigenous Reserve that stretches 20km along the beach. More on the Guaymi’s culture and way of life can be found here (link to Guaymi) . We ride along the beach until we reach the Rio Coco.

From the river there are two options depending on rider experience and time constraints.

• Go up through primary and secondary forest to Vista de Mar (literally Ocean View) and then back down to Punta Banco to complete the loop.
• Continue to go up through the forest further inland until reaching “La Laguna” school. This is a small Guaymi school in the Reserve. The trail traverses lots of primary forest but is therefore narrower than the 1st option. This option is only for experienced riders and takes longer to get back to Punta Banco.